Safe Road and Transport Alliance (Srota) expressed deep shock and concern over the arrest of its member Mozzamel Hoque Chowdhury, also the secretary general of Jatree Kollayan Samity (JKS), said a press release yesterday.

The civic platform called for his unconditional release and urged the government to ensure an environment for stakeholders' engagement on promoting awareness and accountability on road safety.

"Chowdhury's arrest will confuse and demoralize all who are actively working to build awareness on road safety, ” said Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, convener of Srota.

Chowdhury was picked up by law enforcers from his residence in Narayanganj in the early hours of September 6. The FIR, lodged against him by one Dulal, alleged that Chowdhury extorted money from him on September 3.

However, newspaper investigations published on September 7 also found serious inconsistencies in the FIR against Chowdhury, the release added.